My Armstrong 5.5 A-wing review

Armstrong wing and 1850

Stats for this report.

Rider weight = 190 lbs (86 kg)

Beginner, maybe about 12 riding sessions total, tried a few times in way to light of wind that I am not counting.
Other wings I have ridden for comparison are the Gong version 1 wings in 5m and 7m and the Naish version 1 4m.
The other foils I have winged on are Armstrong 1600 and 2400.

Setup for this report: 5.5 A-wing, 6'4" x 29 foilsurfmachines sup, 1850 HS front wing, 72 cm mast, 232 tail, O shim, 60 fuse.

Location in east central Florida

I paid full price for my stuff and not endorsed by anyone. I really like my Armstrong foils so I was looking forward to these wings coming out. I was also looking heavily at the slingwing2 and the Takuma wing ride model 3. I could care less about windows. Don't care what your opinion is on them. In fact, I wish the Armstrong wing did not come with them. I found them useless, but more on that later.

I bought the A-Wing 5.5 and the 1850 HS wing together. With the reviews of the 1850, I could not walk away without it. When I opened up the wing at home, it was questionable whether I would be able to get it back in the bag. The bag seems small but I have been able to get back in. In the Real Video, Matt talks about how rigid the frame was and he had it pumped up to 7 or 7.5 psi. I pumped it up initially to about 5 psi and it felt just as rigid as he was showing in his video. When I rode with it the past 2 days, I pumped it up to 7psi on both the leading edge and the center strut. Yes, you have 2 locations you have to pump up. I am using a WMFG 3.0T pump with a gauge.

This is after riding 2 days straight.

First day out, the wind where I started was a little more out in the open at 13-16 mph and where I was finishing my runs was in a little shadow behind an island at 10-14 mph. I usually hold my wind meter up for about a minute or 2 to get an idea of the speed. In the past, this would be me on my 7m with the 2400. I have not ridden my foil with a wing in about at least 3 months because of work. So initially I had to shake out a cob web or 2 for the first few minutes. Initial impression as soon as I had this wing in my hand was "this thing has some pull". I was able to power up and jump on foil pretty quickly. As I familiarized myself with this combination, the takes offs became very easy. I would just pump the wing with short arm pumps of about 6 inches while waiting/resting. When it would grab wind/ higher wind/ gust it would easily start to accelerate the board. At this point is when I would pump the wing harder with longer strokes, normally about 1-3 times. Yep. insert jokes. I then would pump the foil and lift off. Usually only had to pump the foil maybe 3-5 times.

This wing does have a lot of pull. I was amazed that I still consider myself a beginner and could ride with such ease in the lighter winds. I could go upwind with ease too. I was picking points that were pretty far upwind and I could get there. This was all on my heelside. I have not taken gybes as seriously I as need to and so I put the effort in on this day. It was not pretty and I know I had some good falls if anyone wanted a laugh. As I made it down to where I get out and start over, I mentioned the wind was a little lighter. I was still able to gather myself and take off. Most of the time with little effort as mentioned as above. There were a few times where I had to work a little harder to lift off. With the lighter wind, I did have a harder time lifting off on my toe side twisted around.

Day 2. Followed a rain storm and had to wait a few minutes for the wind to kick back up. Same location with the initial point wind in the 15-20mph range with gusts to 23. Ending point was 14-16mph. Did I say this A-wing thing could pull. The more power made it easier to lift off on my toeside. Riding toe side with more power made things a little iffy just in terms of speed and control. My own issue. Lifting off on my heelside, I felt like pro. Could lift off at will with minimal effort. I could definitely go for the longer mast with the chop I ride in. I could race upwind again today. Again aiming for points way upwind. The speed I could get today felt fast while up on the foil but I know it was probably reasonable. Most of the time I was trying to bleed off the speed. Some times I felt like Mary Poppins with the wing straight out over my head with plenty of speed on the foil. Breaching in the chop, up on the foil, and at speed again provided for some good launches of me into the water.

I watched a few videos and figured out what I was doing wrong on my gybes. Today I was completing them in both directions. At least about 70 percent of them. And some were not pretty. But some I stayed on the foil through the whole turn and kept riding. So that was cool. I think I have the muscle memory now but that will depend on when I get to ride again. Wind is supposed to be marginal tomorrow and into the future.

This wing and foil combination definitely allows me to ride a smaller wing and smaller foil. Earlier this year, I was riding the winds from the fronts going through with 25-35 mph winds. I was thinking about this after riding today. Looking at smaller wings and smaller foils for the future. I was hesitant to believe the power of the 4.5 in the Real video. I now believe it after riding this wing.

In terms of the windows. This is just my opinion. I tried them. I had the wing held at a higher angle most of the time and they were of no use. I am also gambling that the material will hold up. The bag that comes with it is small. Yes, I can get the wing into the bag. But to not fold the windows you need to roll the wings up from each side. Then put it sideways if that makes sense. Maybe my pictures will show my explanation better. The bag is 38 inches long and the windows are 41 inches long, so you have to roll this way to avoid bending/creasing them. The coil leash I was not sure about. But it is really nice quality. It was nice without a straight leash dangling around. The bag has a built in tube next to one of the pockets and I am guessing that will be for the future mini boom coming out. The bag has a mesh pocket on each end to help drain any water from the bag. Bag also has nice buckles, a shoulder strap, 2 small interior pockets.

The handles I had no issue with. I pretty much used the first and the third handles. They felt solid and I felt like I had good control over the wing with them. I played with the Y handles some. This is my first wing with them. When I used them, I used the bottom one for whatever direction I was going. Did not try them with the gybes. Had enough going on at the moment. They seem Ok. I just need to play with them more.

The inflation valves I am not a fan of. I have used valves on my Gong and Naish wings, and my Core and Liquid Force kites and prefer the valves on all of those over the valve on the A-wing. This is also very minor complaint. To me it just does not feel as secure and I have had to adjust every time I pump the wing up to get it to hold air in order to see the pressure on the pump gauge. The 2 valves did not bother me either. Having to pump the leading edge and the strut separately did not bother me.

Ok, I think I covered as much as possible. Now photos.

The handles from the side.





The Y handle and valves



The leash





The bag









The flag out handle and leash attachment



The valves





Folding/rolling it to put it in the bag





A few action shots from the first day

Thanks for the tip for replacing the windows with the white ripstop Hilly. Good idea if they fail in the future.

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